BVI News

8th District Representative Marlon Penn (centre) celebrating with two supporters. * File photo BVI News

The Virgin Islands Party (VIP)  displaced the incumbent the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2007 General Election with a 10-2 drubbing at the polls; an independent candidate won the other seat and later joined the VIP, giving it an 11-2 advantage.

Embarrassed by the drubbing, the NDP went back to school and during the 2011 General Election political campaign, it exposed and exploited the VIP’s fault lines and turned the table.  And on 07 November 2011, the voters sent seismic shockwaves throughout the political landscape by returning the NDP to power, after a 4-year hiatus, with 5 of 9 district seats and all 4 at large seats. It was, indeed, an impressive victory.

Nonetheless, winning the election was the easy task; it’s the first step in what will be a long, difficult, and challenging governing journey.  The campaign battles  waged, the voters responded loudly, and the deserved celebration over, now  it is time for the NDP and all other Virgin Islanders to roll up their  sleeves and get to work.  After all, the BVI face a myriad of formidable challenges that will demand strong, bold, decisive and effective leadership  to grow the economy,  continue to move the standard of education and training from good to excellent, improve the infrastructure system, arrest the spiraling crime rate, protect and preserve the environmental resources,  provide accessible and affordable healthcare, lower the cost of delivering public sector services,  contain  the  growth of  public sector debt,  reform the public sector……etc.

Attacking and fixing these issues will require making unpopular but necessary decisions, along with making personal/national sacrifices. Many of these critical decisions may not be either   in the political interest of elected officials or  in the short-term  interest  of some generational  groups ( Boomers, Gen X) but are required to lay   the foundation  to provide opportunities for Millennial, Gen Z and  other generations yet unborn.  As these challenges are attacked, the BVI need to learn from the past, live in the present but prepare for the future; preparing for the future is critical.

The Caribbean region is at a development crossroads and its member nations must take significant and concrete  steps to improve productivity and competitiveness and face up to a more global  competition if they are to accelerate or even maintain past growth says a World Bank report—A time to Choose: Caribbean Development in the 21st Century.  This World Bank report reflects the current situation in the BVI; it is at a crossroad in its growth and development.

The BVI have had several critical junctures in its history, i.e., the 1950 general election (1st elected members), the 1967 general election (rollout out of  the  ministerial system, rescinding Wickham Cay and Anegada debacle ……etc. Nonetheless, this  current juncture is pivotal, for the decisions made and actions taken will set the direction for the territory well into the 21st Century.  Rahm Emanuel, former member of US House of Representative and White House Chief of Staff to President Obama, and current Mayor of Chicago, is credited with saying that a  crisis should never go to waste.  And so too an opportunity should never go to waste.

The BVI is faced with a myriad of challenges but not enough resources to address them all at once; this  is not a unique position, for most other countries share the same problem. . Consequently, it has to prioritize and attack the most urgent/important  challenges first. As such in this article, I will briefly touch on challenges that I view as the most urgent. These challenges include the economy and economic diversification, infrastructure (roads, water, sewerage, ports, electricity, and telecommunication) education and training, affordable and accessible health care, and the public sector.

And central to addressing these challenges are the master planning process.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail (author unknown); effective planning is a key component in the governing process.  Each issue needs a master plan that should be adhered to regardless of which political party is in power.  Frequent starting and stopping projects or programs based solely on differing political philosophy or to deprive a  political rival of any recognition is a political reality but it delays progress,  drives up cost and is often  not in the best interest of the territory.

Once the majority of stakeholders (electorate) are engaged and buy-in to projects or programs, agree to the method of funding, agree that they are getting the best value at the lowest cost, and understands the opportunity cost, the implementation wheels should be set in motion. Furthermore, it is not enough  just to have plans on paper; tactical capacity must be put in place as a bridge between strategy and implementation.

The BVI has transformed itself from an agricultural  sector economy to primarily a service sector economy.  Tourism and financial services propelled the BVI from being a little “back water” territory to today having one of the highest quality of life, standard of living, and per capita income in the Caribbean region.  In spite of the prolonged, protracted, world-wide economic downturn, it has been able to thread water and stay afloat, maintaining a steady course of action. Undoubtedly, the BVI has achieved significant growth and development with tourism and financial services and is perched at the top of the economic class in the region.  But though the two twin pillars have served the BVI well, they are fragile and highly competitive industries. Many of our competitors in the region and around the world are striving to duplicate  the BVI’s  success and knock it off its perch.

The BVI needs to be mindful of the fragility and competitive nature of tourism and financial services. Additionally, it  needs  to focus on the  impact of the  economy, on the quality of life,  standard of living  and on the per capita income if it  loses  significant market share of one of the twin  pillars.  Just the mere thought of losing major market share of any one of these two industries, but particularly tourism, should cause the BVI  to shudder. Let’s imagine for a second the  adverse impact  on the community  if one of the pillars were to  experience significant structural damage.

The economy will be hit hard.; GDP will be impacted. Thus, the BVI cannot and should not put all its eggs in one basket or in a couple of baskets; the economy needs to be urgently diversified.  The BVI reality is it is a small, microstate state (~59 sq mile).  And  this  small  size brings some disadvantages and limitations. For example, due to its small size its governing cost will be higher; and  it  will probably  never build  substantial economies in manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, or industry.  As  such it needs to focus its energy and limited resources on opportunities that are possible.   The question then  is what economies should it pursue?

The BVI has no oil, precious metals, strategic metals or other natural resources.  And like other countries in the region it is blessed with sand, sea, sun, and people. It must lean on and exploit these resources, coupled with natural advantages of location, environment, political stability and democratic traditions (World Bank report), to  achieve competitive advantages in building, maintaining, and sustaining its economy.  As elected officials take a bird’s eye view of the BVI’s economic landscape they need to focus on maintaining and sustaining the growth of both tourism and financial services.

This focus according to the World Bank report can include revitalizing the maturing tourist sector by exploring other areas such as adventure and cultural tourism or eco-tourism or medical tourism.  Moreover, it needs to build a formidable firewall  to keep Zug and other competitors from encroaching on  its financial services  competitive advantage.    Further, the BVI needs to explore other areas to grow and diversify its economy. Some potential areas include offshore education, back office operations, call centers, and knowledge-based work, particularly in the information and communication technology area.  Finally, it needs to bench mark its economy against  the economies of small countries such as Cyprus, Singapore, Mauritius, and Ireland.

Another area that is critical and vital to growing and sustaining the economy and driving the way forward is education and training. As noted earlier the BVI is blessed with sand, sea, sun, and people.  And its continued success will depend heavily on the aggressive  investing in the training and education of its people. The BVI has a service sector economy;  and people are critical to sustaining a service sector economy. Thus, the BVI needs to educate and train its people to meet the demands of the market place. In the past, it has not effectively trained to meet its labor needs. Consequently, it has to import labor to perform some jobs that Virgin Islanders have the talent and ability to perform but lack the skills, knowledge, and experience.  These  shortcomings are not insurmountable and can be remedied with aggressive and focused action.

The local skill shortage  is clearly evident by the labor force that is segmented between locals and expatriates. Locals are concentrated in government, statutory bodies, and banks; expatriates in top positions in financial services and hotels, nursing, building trades and technical positions.  A highly literate populace is fundamental to growing and sustaining the economy, lowering the poverty level, reducing the income disparity between income levels, reducing unemployment/underemployment, and reducing the demand for imported labor. The BVI needs an education and training master plan to address this critical issue; master plan needs  to focus heavily on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our competitors are focusing on STEM,  and  Virgin Islanders need to be equipped  to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy.  All sectors of society need to  share in  and enjoy the good economic fortune.

Furthermore, in addition to a literate populace, infrastructure is also  vital to economic growth and development and the way forward.  Unequivocally, the infrastructure needs urgent attention. Specifically, a modern transportation system(road, bridge, seaport, airport, bus/taxi) is needed; a quality, reliable,  potable water supply, treatment, and distribution system that meets current and future needs; a sewerage collection, and treatment system that meet the needs of a growing community; a long-term, functional solid waste disposal system; a state-of-the-art, leading edge telecommunication system; and a stable power generation and distribution system(need to explore alternative power sources, i.e., wind, solar….etc).  And all infrastructure systems need  master plans.

Additionally, an accessible and affordable healthcare system is also critical for growth and development.   Every   citizen and resident  regardless of economic or social status will need healthcare at some point(s) in their lives.  Proper healthcare is essential to the health and well-being of all citizens and residents.  As such, quality healthcare should be readily available to all citizens and residents regardless of financial status.  It should not be based on one’s ability to summon an air ambulance to Puerto Rico or the US or to fly overseas to get quality care.

The BVI needs to build a modern, world class healthcare system that is accessible and affordable to all  citizens and residents(young, middle age,  elderly, unborn).  Further, quality health care is vital to  the  tourism industry.  Therefore, completing the hospital should be a top priority.  Completing the hospital may mean that some other critical capital projects may have to be deferred.  Nevertheless, let’s get it done.  And not only must the hospital physical structure be completed soonest but it also needs to be equipped, and local staff (doctors, nurses, aides, technicians, dieticians, facility personnel, admin personnel…etc) trained to man  the hospital.  A healthcare master plan is needed.

Another  challenge, albeit a sensitive one, is the size and cost  of the public sector. The BVI’s small size has by necessity made the government one of the largest employer in the territory.  Yet  the reality acknowledged, the role of government and the cost of delivering services should be reviewed.  This review should include the size of the work force, service efficiencies,  ways to bend the cost curve, resource leveling, comparing cost of shifting some services to the  private sector versus keeping  them in house or leveraging technology to lower cost.  This is a sensitive issue and can be suicidal for any government to touch. But  strong and effective leaders make tough and unpopular decisions; and weak leaders kick the can down the road.  But the big  question is what level of government expenditure is unsustainable? Government needs to know what this level is so that it can smoothly management any adjustments that may be needed.

The Premier must take charge  and take hold of the reins of government early, establishing a value system and demanding strict accountability and responsibility for both  performance and behavior. He must/can walk softly yet carry a BIG stick to light a fire under and within staff as needed. He  must establish an environment that provides  for equal and fair access to government services regardless of known political affiliations or social status.

At all cost, he must prevent the emerging of  “government(s)” within a government; ministries are not islands or independent entities.  Further, he must establish a strict no nonsense policy on political victimization, retribution, or retaliation  against government employees or other citizens for holding differing political view points. On the other hand, civil servants responsibilities are to serve and protect the public; and they should do so (continue to so) with pride, professionalism, and integrity. And they should let their political voices and preferences be heard at the ballot box.  Finally, the Premier should start negotiation with the UK for greater local  autonomy over the civil  service. The Premier needs to take a holistic approach to governing.; he is number one among equals  and it is imperative that he  leads from the front.

The economy, infrastructure, accessible and affordable health care, education and training, and the  public sector  are but  a few of the challenges the BVI face.  But there also other challenges that are just as important to growth and development: rising crime, environmental protection and preservation, labor, immigration, debt management, land ownership and management…etc.

The governing focus  needs to be  on needs, not want; it needs to focus on the right projects, at the right time  and at the right dollar value  to avoid economic marginalization, as well as preventing  the slide or erosion of past development gains.  It needs to  invest in  attracting local and external investment for  economic growth, education, infrastructure, healthcare,  as well as a host  of social services.  The right investment focus will require discipline, effective management,  and strong political leadership.

Citizens need to get engaged, hold government feet to the fire, and demand  timely action be taken on the issues   they voted for on Election Day.

Edgar Leonard is native Virgin Islander/political analyst who currently resides abroad.

PS:   Credit is due to  Laurilee Sprauve, my niece,  for suggesting The Way Forward title and providing the  motivation to pen this article.

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